Canucks likely to re-sign Myers for about $3 million per season: report
It sure sounds like Tyler Myers will return to the Vancouver Canucks next season, at a significant discount.
Perhaps it’ll even be less than half of the $6 million he made annually for the past five seasons.
Similar to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman earlier in the week, Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK seems very confident that Myers will return to Vancouver. In an interview with Mike Halford and Jason Brough on Sportsnet 650 this morning, Dhaliwal noted that a deal isn’t “imminent,” but said he believes Myers will re-sign.
Myers is one of nine Canucks players that can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
“I believe when it gets done with Myers, it should be 2-3 years at around $3 million [per season], maybe a tad under [$3 million],” Dhaliwal said. “I’m hearing too much of Myers and Vancouver getting done at some point.”
It’s believed that Myers wants to stay in Vancouver, given his wife is from British Columbia and his family spends the offseason in Kelowna.
The 6-foot-8 blueliner hasn’t hidden his desire to re-sign, saying “I would love to be back” just last week.
“What we’ve been able to build here the last year and a half, I think it’s really special to be a part of,” Myers told reporters at Rogers Arena on May 23. “It’s an unbelievable city. The fans were quite amazing in the playoffs. It was something special stepping out for every game. I would love to be back.”
The 34-year-old defenceman blossomed under the new coaching staff, playing a more reliable game than in years past. You can credit the Canucks’ structured play under Rick Tocchet, as well as assistant coach Adam Foote and defensive development coach Sergei Gonchar.
“They were awesome,” Myers said about Foote and Gonchar. “There wasn’t a lot of guessing for us stepping onto the ice. They held us very accountable, coming to the rink every day with constant reminders, things that we can get better at. I thought that communication and that approach from Footer and Gonch on the back end helped all of us out.”
The prevailing wisdom heading into last season was that Myers would need to play a reduced role for the Canucks to have success, and that was after a summer full of trade rumours. Instead, the right-shot defender was a key member of Vancouver’s back end.
Myers ranked third among Canucks defencemen in average ice time (18:57). Only Ian Cole (2:39) played more on the penalty kill than Myers, who averaged 2:13 in shorthanded ice time.
Myers, along with defence partner Carson Soucy, went head-to-head with Connor McDavid in the second round of the playoffs and actually performed reasonably well against the Edmonton Oilers superstar. The Canucks were outscored just 6-4 when Myers and McDavid were on the ice at five-on-five.
If Myers can replicate his success, he’ll be well worth $3 million a season. That may depend on how he ages though. A three-year deal would pay him until age 37.
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